In one of his many books, author Max Lucado tells the fanciful story about what he supposedly did one time while he and his family were living in Brazil. They had gone on a week-long summer vacation and returned home to find that Max had inadvertently unplugged the freezer instead of the radio. For seven days this freezer full of food had sat there in a very hot apartment with the power off.

Max was soon identified as the culprit and, therefore, given the clean-up responsibility. He knew exactly what to do. He got a bucket and a rag and started washing the outside of the freezer. He was sure if he polished it up really nice that the horrible smell would go away. When he got through he opened the freezer door, but the rotten mess of spoiled food was still there.

So then he decided that what that freezer needed was a few friends. What a sorry social life it had as the lone appliance in a utility room. It wasn’t easy, but Max managed to round up a number of other stoves, refrigerators, and washing machines. They practically filled the apartment. What a party! They played games (pin the plug in the socket) and told microwave jokes. Max just knew that all this social interaction would cure the inside of the freezer. Yet when he opened the door again to check, the stink was even worse!

The next idea Max came up with was a winner, or so he thought. He figured that this freezer just needed some status–a little prestige to raise its self-esteem. So he got a Mercedes sticker and put it on the front. On the back he stuck a “Save the Whales” bumper sticker and even installed a cell phone on the side. He sprinkled a little cologne on top and gave it a credit card, too. This was one classy freezer. Max stepped back and gazed with admiration saying, “You might just make the cover of Popular Mechanics!” The freezer just blushed. Expecting to find the inside all nice and clean as well, Max was practically knocked over by the odor when he opened the door this time.

Max (you’ve got to admire his persistence) gave it one last try. He decided his freezer was really in need of some high-voltage pleasure, so he got it several copies of Playfridge (you know, the magazine that has full-color photos of freezers with the doors open). He rented some videos featuring sexy appliances. A few days of all this supercharged entertainment should have done the trick, Max thought. When he opened the door, he nearly got sick.

By now you’re thinking, “What kind of idiot would waste all this effort on the outside when the problem was on the inside?” But wait a minute, don’t we do the same thing?

A homemaker is struggling with depression. What does her friend suggest? Going out and buying a new dress! A husband has an affair and finds that it only leaves him with a huge burden of guilt. The solution? A new set of friends! Start hanging around with people who don’t make you feel guilty. In a hundred different ways, we fix up the outside while ignoring the inside. The moral of the story about Max’s silly antics is clear: “You change your life by changing your heart.”

—- The Applause of Heaven by Max Lucado. Word, 1990. Pages 122-125.

There is so much pain in the world. Bigotry, poverty, captivity, disease. Through it all, God is trying to get our attention. Why do we find it so hard to let go of the monkey trap and reach out to Him?

You know what a monkey trap is? In Africa the monkey hunters drill a hole in a coconut, just big enough for a monkey to stick in his hand and arm, so long as the hand is open and extended. However, if the hand is in a fist, it cannot enter or come out.

The monkey hunters put a worthless shiny stone in the coconut, big enough to ensure the monkey’s hand cannot come out while clinching the stone. The monkey is curious. He is attracted to the shiny object he spots inside the hole. Sticks in his hand and grasps the shiny, worthless pebble. Now he is possessive. He won’t let go. The coconut is anchored to the tree. The monkey hunters come. The monkey is screaming in fear, but he is captured, because he is holding onto a shiny, worthless pebble which becomes more important to him than his freedom.

I called a young lady in California one week ago. She has been to Haiti and knows the calling of God. But she has gotten her hand in a monkey trap. She was holding on to hurt and bitterness. And she was miserable.

Is ANYTHING worthwhile for losing our freedom in Christ? Is ANYTHING worth going to hell for when we have the opportunity to obtain heaven right now? Rush Limbaugh told it better than any preacher has ever said it: Forgiveness is not for the other person, it is for our own health. We cannot physically, emotionally and mentally bear up under the weight of endless unforgiveness. It will kill us as surely as a tiger trap.

When we get sick and tired of being sick and tired, I know where you can find rest and deliverance, and He will take your burden and carry it for you. All it costs is all of you for all of Him. That is a bargain K Mart or Wal-Mart can never dream of matching. Will you let go of the monkey trap and let God take control? Does Eternal Life sound so scary? Are you so sure of your own abilities that you chose your own decisions over your Creator? Hey, friend, chose life in Jesus Christ. Want to know more? Ask me, or someone else who knows Jesus.

Excuse me for “preaching”, but the work of the “junk man” – the devil who kills, steals and destroys - has gotten to me a bit, and I cannot let the day go by without telling someone there is not need to continue on part of the junk heap.

The Lord bless you and keep you and give you peace!

—— Brother Dan ———-

A cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

“Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please!”

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl’s upturned face.

“A dollar ninety-five. That’s almost $2.00. If you really want them, I’ll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday’s only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma.”

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere–Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story.

One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny, “Do you love me?”

“Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you.”

“Then give me your pearls.”

“Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess--the white horse from my collection. The one with the pink tail. Remember, Daddy? The one you gave me. She’s my favorite.”

“That’s okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good night.”

And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny’s daddy asked again,

“Do you love me?”

“Daddy, you know I love you.”

“Then give me your pearls.”

“Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my babydoll.

The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper.”

“That’s okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you.”

And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.

“What is it, Jenny? What’s the matter?”

Jenny didn’t say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy.

And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, “Here, Daddy. It’s for you.”

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny’s kind daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime-store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny. He had had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her genuine treasure. Just like our heavenly Father.

So what are you hanging on to?